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Avantha Masters

The Avantha Masters was won by Thomas Aiken who has played some amazing golf here at Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort course in Delhi, India.

Thomas Aiken / Getty Images

Thomas won his second European Tour title, the Avantha Masters by three shots, his exceptional third round on Saturday of 62 had set him up for this victory. The last round saw Thomas shoot a more modest -5 under par, 67, giving him a comfortable three shot victory at -23 under par, as none of the chasers could mount a challenge.

Thomas was very happy with his amazing golf;

” I’ve been playing very nicely the last four months, not making a lot of mistakes, but just not sinking enough putts. This week a few went in, I hit some better iron shots which gave me a better chance to sink some putts, and I played some phenomenal golf. These guys kept coming at me today, Liang on the front nine and then Bhullar made some amazing birdies coming in, it was by no means a walk in the park. I want to dedicate this to my wife Kate, being the wife of a sportsman is not easy and she supports me so much, so this one’s for you Kate.”

Local player, Gaganjeet Bhullar made a fine attempt to win this tournament, buoyed up by his home crowd he made birdie on the three of the last five holes, to set the clubhouse target at -20 under par. His brilliant -8 under par, 64 proved to be not quite enough for his first European Tour victory.

Alone in third place was Wenchong Liang, who had pushed Thomas for most of this tournament. Wenchong finished at -18 under par, but it seemed he was going to push Thomas hard in the last round when he recorded a hole in one at the par three seventh hole.

Although Wenchong did not win, he said he had a good time in India;

“I had a great week in India, although I did not win. I learnt a lot about myself, especially today. To card a double-bogey on the sixth and make a comeback with a hole-in-one on the next hole showed lots of character. Unfortunately I could not make as many putts as I would want to, but that’s golf. You win some and you lose some. I tried my best and that’s all I can ever ask for.”

The Avantha Masters has been a great European Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India success story, providing a beautiful venue and a good golf course. Congratulations to the organisers, tour sponsors and tour partners.

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South African Thomas Aiken fired an awesome third round -10 under par 62, to ascend to the top of the leaderboard at the Avantha Masters, on the Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort course in India.

Thomas Aiken / Getty Images

Thomas Aiken now has a three shot lead going into the final round of the Avantha Masters, in Greater Noida, Delhi, India. Thomas carded eight birdies and an eagle in his ten under par round. His closest rival is China’s Wenchong Liang, who had a third round -3 under par, 69, for his -15 under par total.

Thomas said concentration was the key;

” I concentrated very hard to play one shot at a time and it seemed to work, it just shows what can happen. I got off to a great start, holing a pitch shot on the second for eagle always helps, and from then on I just stuck to my game plan. All in all I’m very pleased with the way I played. I’ve been playing very well the last four months and just haven’t converted opportunities. Fortunately this week I’ve converted a lot of the opportunities that I’ve had, the majority of them have gone in from inside ten feet and that’s what makes the difference from a scoring point of view.”

The overnight joint-leader Wenchong Liang is in second place, he missed two short putts on the day, they were inside two feet;

” The key is to stay patient, I’m just three shots back and I’m confident that the gap can be closed. Anything can happen in golf and I only need to believe that I can do it. Hopefully luck will play a part as well.”

Tied in third place, at -14 under par are David Drysdale and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, both players dropped shots late in the day, and now have some work to do to make up the deficit.

Earlier in the week, during the first round Chinnarat Phadungsil shot a 61, he has since dropped off the pace and is now down tied in 23rd place at -9 under par for the tournament.

Lets hope that Thomas will not repeat that kind of classic collapse, following a brilliant round, from this position he should comfortably go on to win this event.

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At the halfway stage of the Avantha Masters, Chapchai Nirat and Liang Wen-chong are tied at the top of the leaderboard with a two shot lead over the field.

Wen-chong Liang / Getty Images

Wen-chong, from China, last won an event in 2007, the Singapore Masters, and is keen to record his second European Tour victory. He said after his second round, which included eight birdies, to get to his tournament total of -12 under par;

” I managed to hole several long putts, although I got two bogeys. I couldn’t have asked for a better round, some of my best golf. I’ve had a good break with my family and I’m back feeling all recharged. I’ve learnt to be patient and my playing experience from all over the world has taught me well. There are two more rounds to go and hopefully, I can be atop the leaderboard like today.”

Chapchai Nirat, also at -12 under par, had seven birdies and one bogey for his second round of 66 on the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort course. Chapchai has also not won since 2009 at the Asian TourSAIL Open. He admitted that luck played a part in his round today;

” I played very well indeed, this is a very long course and I managed to hit the balls long the last two days. I also managed to hole several long putts as well and luck did play a part in getting me to my position today.”

The next group of players, at -10 under par are, Nirat’s compatriot Chawalit Plaphol, Scot David Drysdale, England’s Tommy Fleetwood and the Finn, Joonas Granberg.

As is usually the case, runaway overnight leader Chinnarat Phadungsil could not maintain his incredible opening round form, sadly he took 12 shots more to complete the back nine second time around. He is now in a tie for eighth place at -9 under par.

David Drysdale likes this course, and thinks it suits him well;

” The golf course gives you a lot of opportunities for birdies, the par fives are all in reach so it’s been a steady two days. I got through the turn today at nine under and expected to be four or five behind at that point after the lad shooting 11 under yesterday, but saw he had come back to the field so that was a pleasant surprise. In the pro-am on Wednesday I was thinking it would be somewhere in the twenties under par that would win this week, especially if the weather stays like this and the wind doesn’t get up. After someone shoots 11 under you are just trying to shoot as many birdies as you can. When I first saw the course I thought it was a bit of a bomber’s paradise, it looks wide from the tee but actually it’s not that wide and it’s quite a good design, quite narrow which suits me a little bit.”

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The Avantha Masters in India got off to an amazing start with Chinnarat Phadungsil scorching the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort course with an amazing -11 under par round of 61.

Chinnarat Phadungsil /Getty Images

Chinnarat, a twenty-four year old from Thailand already has three Asian Tour titles to his name, the first coming aged just seventeen. He dominated the opening day at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, and now leads the competition by five shots, after just one round.

Included in his amazing effort was seven birdies in a row on the back nine, just one short of the European Tour record, after completing the front nine in 33 strokes. Chinnarat started his back nine with four regulation birdies, holed a 50 foot putt at the 14th, very nearly pitched in for Eagle at the par five 15th, and followed that with an approach to two feet at the 16th for an incredible seven straight birdies. Another birdie on the 18th gave him eight birdies on the homeward nine, and his total of -11 under par, the lowest 18 hole total on the 2013 Race to Dubai to date.

Chinnarat had to admit that it was his best return ever;

” That’s my best ever round, today I had a lot of great putts. Back nine I hit the driver better than the front nine, but I holed my putts, that’s why I made my score. Today my game was very good so I will keep going.”

Tied in second place on -6 under par are Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol and Chapchai Nirat, China’s Liang Wen-Chong, Swede Magnus A Carlsson and the Indian home favourite Abhijit Singh Chadha, all with first rounds of 66.

Abhijit Singh Chadha was playing in his first event where the Professional Golf Tour of India has been co-sanctioned with the European Tour, and said it was a good experience;

” It’s a good field and it’s the first time I’m playing in an event sanctioned with The European Tour. I’ve got no experience at all, I’ve played a couple of events on the Asian Tour, and playing with the big boys really gives you lots of confidence and it’s a really good feeling for me. I don’t feel the pressure of playing the Avantha Masters for the first time, the experience of playing many big international events during my amateur days has really helped me. As an amateur I played a lot of events overseas as part of the Indian team. The atmosphere at these tournaments was similar to that at the Avantha Masters in terms of international participation and the crowds.”

It will be interesting to see how Chinnarat Phadungsil handles the second round, it is always hard to come back and play well after a really low round.

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Jbe Kruger won his first tour event at the Avantha Masters tournament in New Delhi. This is Jbe’s 38th event and with this win moves to around 110th in the Official World Ranking from 159th. This European Tour International Schedule victory gives him €341,485 in The Race to Dubai.

Also he is the second first-time winner of the 2012 European Tour season, following Branden Grace (Joburg Open). This victory continues South Africa’s recent run of success on The European Tour, they have won six of the last ten European Tour events.Jbe also gains a European Tour exemption until the end of the 2014 season.